


Joyride

by keylimepie



Series: Gabriel Bingo 2020 [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, Gen, If You Squint - Freeform, Possibly Pre-Slash, The Impala (Supernatural)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:20:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24830719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keylimepie/pseuds/keylimepie
Summary: Gabriel's been hunkering down with the Winchesters and the gang since his return from Apocalypse World. But now he's ready for a little adventure. Dean's just trying to run his errands, surely his car is perfectly safe and sound right where he left it?
Series: Gabriel Bingo 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1908181
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	Joyride

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for the Gabriel Bingo '20 card, the "Joyride" square. Enjoy!
> 
> And it now has a sequel, "Dinner and a Surprise Crush" for the Debriel square.

The temptation was just too great. Dean had left the keys in the ignition, and had run into the bar for “just a minute” to grab a six pack. But there was a wrestling match on TV, there was a drink special, and odds were pretty good that he wasn’t going to be heading home for a good many hours, and even then, he’d be leaving his car parked and taking a cab. 

Gabriel hadn’t exactly been following him, but it did turn out that he was wandering around the little business district of Lebanon at the same time Dean was running his errands. Mostly since the return from Apocalypse World Gabriel had been holed up in the bunker, interacting as little as possible with the hunter crew, nevermind the outside world. Today was the first time he’d actually gone out to explore the environs. 

Lebanon, as it turned out, was a real snoozer. It had taken him all of ten minutes to explore the place. So when he’d seen Dean park the car and disappear into the bar, Gabriel had wandered over to take a look around. Keys in the ignition, Winchester’s fine booty sliding onto a bar stool, those mossy green peepers glued to the TV. Seemed like a perfect invitation. The ideal setup for a-

“Joyride!” Gabriel exclaimed, jumping into the driver’s seat with glee. He turned the key, felt that engine purr, and popped it into drive. “We’ll be back before he even misses you,” he promised the car. 

What he hadn’t counted on was Dean Winchester’s keen sense of hearing. Dean was finely attuned to the sound of his baby’s engine, and of course, he had quick reflexes. As soon as he heard that sound he bolted off the bar stool and out the door, just in time to see his car driving away. “Son of a _bitch_ ,” he shouted. He could just make out the shine of the setting sun on honeyed blond hair. “Oh, oh that had better not be!” he muttered, even as he felt a twinge of relief that it was probably the pain in the ass archangel, not some random stranger. At least he knew where Gabriel lived.

“Hey! Hey, you!” Dean shouted to a lady on the sidewalk across the street. She stared at him, fear in her eyes, as he darted across toward her, and she scrambled for a better grip on her purse. Dean winced and waved his hands in a placating gesture. “It’s okay, it’s okay, I just- did you see who just took off in my car?” 

“That guy stole your car?” she asked. “Yeah, I saw him. He was in the ice cream shop ahead of me. He seemed completely harmless! Kind of cute.” She sipped her milkshake. “I can’t believe we have a car thief in town. A car thief who likes ice cream sundaes.”

Dean groaned. “Leather jacket, stubble? Shaggy blond hair, about yea high?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “Do you need me to call the cops?”

“No, it’s okay actually. Probably just a- a misunderstanding. Heh heh. Naw, I know that little jackass. So he took _my_ car, and left _me_ behind.” 

“Oh,” she said. “Well, in that case do you need a ride?” She gestured toward a green station wagon. “It’s no trouble.”

Dean sighed. “Yeah, I guess so.” 

*

“Shit,” said Gabriel as the Impala slid off the side of the dirt road into the ditch. The front passenger tire sunk into the swampy mud with a squelching sound, and tall prairie grass slapped all along the side. Gabriel banged the steering wheel. “Shit,” he repeated. He raised his hand and gave an experimental snap of his fingers. The car shifted about four inches higher. That, apparently, was all the juice he had. He groaned. 

It had all been going pretty well. Car purring down the two-lane highway, wind whipping through his hair, 70’s funk cranked up on the radio. Gabriel was feeling good; free and light and a little optimistic about the future. Then he’d seen this little side road beckoning. He figured he’d explore the countryside a bit, see what interesting sights lurked down the little dirt road. There’d been a small stretch of scrubby little trees and then, shocker, a large expanse of prairie. The roadway was badly damaged, and he’d had to dodge around the massive potholes. One swerve too many, and he’d lost control off the muddy edge. He never had been much of a driver, not even when he had had powers. 

“I’m sorry, old girl,” he said, patting the dashboard. “We’ll get you out of here in a jiff.” 

Gabriel sighed. He just wasn’t sure how to do that. He tried stepping on the gas a few times, hoping it would sort of ease its way out of there, but all it did was spin tires and fling mud all over the place. He turned the engine off. 

He opened the door, a struggle against gravity with the slight tilt it was sitting at, and stepped out of the car. He immediately sank up to his ankles in mud. Resignedly, he kicked grass and trudged through the squishy swampiness until he stood on the more solid ground of the dirt road. His grace was at least functional enough to keep himself clean, fortunately, and with a thought he’d banished the mud from himself. But that was about the extent of his ability. 

“I turned you into Sam once, and now I can’t even get you unstuck,” he said mournfully to the car. He started to walk back down the dirt road towards the main road. The sun was getting lower, and he didn’t like to think about how much worse this would be if he didn’t find help and get the car out and back to Dean before night fell. 

It was a good mile or so back to the turn off. There was a farm about another half mile beyond that, that he’d passed just a short time ago. A big white house on one side of the road, big gray wooden barn with silos and smaller buildings and a pasture full of cows on the other side. Maybe he could sweet talk some farmer into pulling it out with a tractor? He was pretty sure that was how this worked. 

Gabriel had gotten about halfway to the farmhouse when a green station wagon stopped abruptly in the road next to him. “Oh, nuts,” he said. It was the girl with the mint chocolate milkshake with extra whipped cream and no cherries, and sitting in her passenger seat was Dean Winchester. 

*

Gabriel sat quite miserably in the back seat of the station wagon. Dean had been quiet, after the initial exchange, and that made him nervous. He was sure they’d be having it out eventually, maybe he just didn’t want to start in front of Milkshake Girl. She was nice enough to drive them out the crappy dirt road and even offered to pull the car out if necessary. 

“Wow, this road is pretty awful,” she commented. “Where were you headed? I didn’t think there was anything out here.”

“Yeah, Gabriel, where were you headed?” Dean said acidly, without turning around. “Down the crappiest road in Kansas in my freaking car?” 

“I don’t know, I just wanted to go for a little ride,” he said once again. “Thought I’d have been back in plenty of time.” He picked at the seatbelt strap miserably.

They came around the corner and there was the car, still in the ditch. Was it lower? Was it sinking into the ditch? Gabriel felt a jolt of fear that it would just get slurped into the mud and Dean would never forgive him. But Dean had already hopped out with a mournful cry and splashed into the swamp, heedless of it soaking into his boots and jeans.

“He’s really attached to that car,” Gabriel said by way of explanation. 

“Kind of makes you a crappy friend to pull this on him, doesn’t it?” Milkshake Girl commented. Gabriel winced. He didn’t answer, and she got out and went to the back of the car and began rummaging around in the clutter back there until she emerged with a rope. 

“Good idea, you probably should hang me,” Gabriel called out the window. She snorted and walked over to Dean. Gabriel watched the two of them talk, then Dean went to do complicated things with the rope and the front end of the car. Milkshake Girl came back and they were moving again, pulling up and backing up carefully according to Dean’s instruction. 

Gabriel sat quietly through all this, and through Dean attaching the rope to the back of the station wagon. Until Dean came to the side of the car and opened the door. “Well?” Dean said.

“Well?” Gabriel asked.

“Hop out, short stuff. Go push.” 

Gabriel stared. “Uh. Um.” 

“Yeah. You’re gonna push, Heather’s gonna pull, and I’m gonna be in the driver’s seat. Now get your ass back there.” Dean’s jaw set firmly. Gabriel slunk out of the car and climbed down into the ditch again. 

Up to his knees in water, Gabriel leaned against the back of the Impala and pushed, while Milkshake Girl Heather gently gunned the gas of the station wagon, and the car inched forward a little. Gabriel pushed a little harder - harder than a human man would have been able to, so at least that was something - and it budged some more. Slowly, between the pulling and the pushing, it seemed that they were making progress. Another incremental movement, and Gabriel really felt like he was getting the hang of this. And then something came really unstuck.

The car lurched forward, and Gabriel scrambled to try to get his footing as the car left and suddenly he was pushing against nothing. Too late, he stumbled and landed face first in the swamp with a big splash. More mud splattered back at him as the tires got traction. 

Gabriel took his time extracting himself from the ditch. Dean had untied the rope and put it away in the woman’s car, gave her a big hug - a really cuddly hug, Gabriel thought irritably - and she was on her way before he emerged from the tall weeds. 

“You okay?” Dean asked gruffly. He glanced over Gabriel. 

“I’ll be fine,” Gabriel replied. He waved his hand and banished the mud once again. “Squeaky clean, no worse for the wear. So, uh. Guess I’ll just be on my way then.” He turned and started to walk down the dirt road, then paused. Looked behind him, Dean was still just standing there, his brow creased in confusion. “Tell Cassie I said to keep in touch. And Jack. And Sam.” He started to walk away again, but stopped a few yards later and looked over his shoulder again. Dean was still standing there, still the same confused face. “I am sorry about all this. Just so’s you know.” 

“Gabriel, where the hell are you going?” Dean asked. 

“No idea,” he admitted. “I’ll figure it out when I get there.”

“Get in the damn car!” Dean exclaimed. He stalked over toward the passenger door and held it open. “Idiot. You’re not just going to walk off and leave like this.”

Gabriel cocked his head. Now it was his turn to be confused. “You want me to stay?” 

Dean shrugged. “Yeah, kinda getting used to having you around. C’mon, hop in.”

Gabriel climbed into the passenger seat and settled in with a wiggle. Dean slid into his seat and threw her into drive with fluid, practiced motions. The car purred down the dirt road, expertly dodging the worst of the dips and potholes. 

“Dean… I am really sorry.” 

Dean grunted. “Just don’t ever do it again.” 

“Cross my heart,” he said, making the accompanying motion. They exchanged a grin, and Gabriel started to feel hopeful that Dean was going to forgive him after all, and that they were well on their way to friendship. 

“So. You wanted a joyride?” Dean said. He glanced over at Gabriel, his lips twisted in a half grin. Gabriel nodded. “Alright,” Dean said.

The road came to a T intersection, and they headed left, back on paved roads once again, looping their way around the Kansas countryside. Farm after farm whizzed by outside the windows, and they began to chat, exchanging tales of this and that. Finally, they headed back to the Lebanon environs as full dark hit. Dean stifled a yawn as he steered them through town. He parked once again outside the bar and went in for his beer run. This time he left Gabriel in the passenger seat, with utmost confidence that he, and the car, would still be there when he came out. 

“Oh, Gabe, one more thing,” Dean said as he opened the back door to tuck the beers safely in the cooler.

Gabriel twisted in his seat. “What’s that, Dean-O?”

“Tomorrow, you’re washing my car.” 

“I’ll be sure to bust out my shortest shorts for the occasion,” he purred. Dean shut the car door abruptly and took his sweet time walking around to the driver’s door. Gabriel was sure he could hear his eyes rolling in the distance. But Dean looked flustered - was he really flustered, Gabriel wondered, or was he just seeing what he wanted to see? With a nervous cough, Dean put the car into drive once again and they headed home.


End file.
